Automobile hood lock



May l2, 931- E. L. DORSEY ET AL. 1,894,387

AUTOMOBILE HOOD LOCK Filed Aug. ll. 1928 INVENToR. BENJAM//v L. 7o/955V 7f3/@MAS i f/VGE/QSULL ATTORNEY Patented May l2, .1931` UNITED STATES PATENT f(nifl-ICi;wk

BENJAMINv L. Don'sEY AND THoMAs s. INGERsoLL.' or Los ANGELEs,"cALi1onNIA,

' ASSIGNORS, BY

Dinner AND MESNE Ass1GNMEN'rs,"'ro INGE'RSO'LL MAGNETIC v LOCK COMPANY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPOBIA'IIOBT'OII!"v AUTOMOBILE HOOD LOCKv Our invention relates to alocking mechas nism, particularly adapted for locking a closure member relative to a frame, such as an automobile hood relative. to the frame of the automobile.

The objects of our invention are: rst,to

provide a locking mechanism whereby the hood of an automobile ymay be locked in various positions relative to the frame thereof so that the hood may be locked tightly into position whether the hood is slightly distorted or not, or prevented for any reason from being shifted or drawn to its usual closed position; second, to provide' means of this class whereby the hood may be held in various positions relative to the frame without the usual employment of springs forfsuch purpose, the resiliency of the hood itself being l made use of to hold the hood resiliently in` a closed position; third, to provide a locking means of this class in which one of the locking members may be easily shifted out of the way sothat the hood is not locked or automatically locked into position when not desired; fourth, to provide a mechanism of this class which iselectrically controlled and in which the various parts are so connected that the same may be readily disconnected without interference with any of the other parts for replacement and repair; fifth, to provide a mechanism of this class whereby a plurality of locking means may be provided for locking one side ofthe hood to the frame of the automobilev and in which all of the locking means are controlled by a unitary control means; sixth, to provide asa whole a novelly 4 constructed mechanism of this class; and, seventh, to providea mechanismv of this class which is simple andv economical of 'construction, durable, efficient 'and whichwill not readily deteriorate orjget out oforder.

With these'andother objects in view, as

" will appear hereinafter, our invention `consists of certain Knovel features of construction,

combinatie andarrangement ofparts and portions, as willbe hereinafter described in detail a'nd particularly setA forthin the appended cla1ms,.reference being had ,to the a'ccompanying drawings and to the characters and showing by dotted lines the locking member mounted on the hood shifted out of the way; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view thereof, taken through 2-2 of. Fig. lgFig. 3 is a sectional view thereof, taken through 3-3 of Fig. 1, but showing the same in a slightly modified form of construction; and,v Fig. 4 is a fragmentarysectional view thereof, taken through 4 4 of Fig. 1, showingthe means forretainingthe locking member in certain shifted positions. v y n y Like characters of reference referto similar parts and portions throughout the several views of the drawings.

In conventional automobile construction, the frame of the automobile is provided with main side frame members, shown lfragmentarily and 4designatedA in the drawings. Above the forward portionof the frame `is positioned the shiftable orremovable hood. designated B, for enclosing thel engine and other mechanism of the automobile. The lower free edges or portions of the hood, designated B1, are usually held in a closed position by a variety of latches operable'from the outside of the hood, said latches being resilient or resiliently extendible so that the hood may be held in position whether the `hood is slightly distorted orpreven-tedr for any other Ireason from being forced downwardly to its closed position, In other arlhood in a closedposition whether the .hood Iis rangements, thehood is locked in its'closed f position usually by/fixed lockmeans.

shiftedd'ownwardly at its sides to its extreme?.

lower positionorvnot. Suchlocking is primarily effected by a locking member 'orlockying plunger 1 1 of relatively small size which is mounted `atits upper end lon the hood and the lower end of which is provided with a plurality of notches .la which receive a. shiftable latch. The upper end of the locking plunger 1 is enlarged and is pivotally mounted by means of a rivet 2 on. a bracket 3 which is secured to the inside of the hood B. The notched portion of the plunger extends preferably'through the upper portion or flange of the frame through an openin'gAl.

The latch member above referred to, and designated 4, consists of a. plunger which is reciprocally mounted in a horizontal direction in a casing 5 which, as here shown, cousists of a base member 5a and a casing member 5b, as' shown in Fig. 2. This casing is secured to the frame A and preferably to the underside of the upper liange of the frame which extends inwardly.

This latch member 4 is urged into engagement with the notched portions of the locking plunger 1 by means of a compression spring 6 positioned between the end of the member 4 and the end of the casing 5. When the plunger 1 is in a locking position, as shown by solid lines in Fig. 1, the position of the latch member toward the plunger 1 is limited by the latter, but when the plunger is withdrawn, the shifting of the latch member 4 toward and into the opening traversable by the locking plunger is limited by a lug 4a at one side of the latch member, which lug extends through a longitudinal slot 5c on the casing 5 and is limited by the engagement of this lug with the portion of the casing 5 forming the one end of the slot nearest the portion of the casing traversable by the locking plunger.

The latch member 4 is withdrawn from the notches la and against the compression spring 6 by an electromagnet 7, also secured in this instance to the under side of the upper flange of the frame. This elect-romagnet 1s provided with a reciprocating plunger 8 which is adapted to be drawn into the coil of the electromagnct when the coil is energized. The normally outer end of the plunger or core 8 is pivotally connected by a link 9 to the portion of the lug 4a extending beyond the casing, such connection being preferably made by a screw 10 so that the link may be readily disconnected therefrom.

The Ielectromagnet is connected to a suitable'source of electrical energy, such as the storage battery of the automobile and the current therethrough is controlled by a suitable key lock or permutation lock mounted within convenient reach of the operator of the automobile, such lock not being shown.

The end of the locking plunger 1 is tapered at all sides so that the plunger may be easily inserted into the opening A1, and also so that the latch member 4 may be easily forced inwardly in an out of the way position against the compression of the spring 6. The normally upper sides of the portions of the member 1 which form the upper sides of thel notches 1a are also inclined so as to permit the member 4 to be shifted out of the way as the plunger l is forced downwardly. It will be here noted that as soon as the latch member 4 enters one notch of the plunger 1, the hood is locked in position, but as greater pressure is applied ou the hood in a downward direction, the latch member 4 enters consecutively the next upper notch until the hood is locked in as tight a position as possible or desired, the resiliency' of the hood itself serving to hold the several members in a slightly yieldable position relative to cach other.

It will he here noted that if the electromagnet 7 is deenergizcd, the latch member 4 is forced into such position that is the plunger 1 enters the opening A1 and the latch member 4 one of the not-ches la, the hood is immediately locked into position. In order to avoid such action when Work is being done upon the engine or other mechanisms under the hood, the plunger 1 is shifted out of the way, such as the positions shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. In order to hold the plunger in either its downward position or in an other position, as shown by dotted lines, we have provided a plurality of lugs 3a at the side of the bracket 3 adjacent the plunger 1, which lugs are adapted to enter a recess on the inner side of the locking plunger 1 near its hub mounting, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. I When slight force is applied to the member 1 for rotating the same, the lug 3a which had previously been positioned in the recess 1b for holding the member 1 in a certain position is dislodged, and if such rotation is continued until the recess 1b is opposite another lug 3a,

the member 1 is held in a corresponding position.

It will -be here noted that if it is desired to have more than one locking mechanism consisting of the locking plunger 1 and the latch 4, for holdin one side of the hood, several of these locing mechanisms are secured to the frame and hood in alignment with each other and in the same relative position, as shown. The latches in such arrangement may be controlled by the same means 0r the same electromagnet. In order to eiect, by a single solenoid, the shifting of another latch member more remotely positioned as shown by the lock C in Fig. 5, the latter latch member, designated 4', is connected, by means of a link 11 to the link 9, as shown in Fig. 3. In this instance, the link 11 is preferably offset so that the same will not interfere with the action of the locking plunger 1.

Though we have shown and described a particular construct-ion, combination and arrangement of parts and portions, anda particu ar application of our locking means to an automobile frame and hood, and a. certain modification thereof, -we do not wish to be limited to the particular construction, combination and arrangement, nor to the particular application, nor to the modification, but desire to include in the scope of our invention the construction, combination and arrangement substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a means' of the class described, the combination with the main frame of an automobile, havin a'vertical hole therein, and an engine hoo of the automobile, of a locking member mounted on said hood immediately at the inner side thereof and substantialliy)1 parallel thereto and extending through the ole in said frame andA provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced notches,

and a latch member shiftably mounted against the under side of said frame at one side of the opening, adapted to engage said locking member in one of said notches.

' 2. In a means of the class described, the

combination with the mainl frame of an automobile, having an opening therein, and a closure member adapted to be closed toward said frame, of a lockin plunger of the subs'tantially the size of t e openin mounted on the inside of said closure mem r iinmediately adjacent the inner side thereof and substantially parallel thereto and extendible through the o nin in said frame and provided at one side with a plurality of notches spaced longitudinally from each other, and a latch member shiftably mounted on the under side of said frame adapted normally to engage said locking plunger in one of the notches thereof.-

3. In a means of the-class described, the combination with the main frame of an automobile, having an opening therein, and a closure member adapted to be closed toward said frame, of a locking plunger of substantially the size of the opening mounted on the inside of said closure member immediately adjacent the inner side thereof and substantially parallel thereto and'extendible through the opening in said frame and provided at one side with a lurality of notches spaced longitudinally rom each other, a latch membei` shiftably mounted at the under side of said frame adapted normally to engage said lockin plunger in one of the notches thereof, an spring means in connection with said latch member for urging the same into enga ment with said locking langer', the portions of said lockin plunger ormin the outer sides of said notc es bein inclin at an `an le and the extended en of said plunger ing also inclined at an angle whereby the insertion of said plunger into said frame is facilitated and whereby said latch member is forced against the action of said spring when said locking plunger is forced into said frame so that the plunger and closure member are locked in the desired position relative to the frame depending upon the force applied on the closure member toward the frame.

4. In a means of the class described, the combination with a frame and a closure member adapted to be closed toward said frame, of a locking member pivotally mounted at one end on the inside of the closure member and extendible toward said frame or to the side and clear of the-frame, and latch means on said frame adapted to engage said locking member when the latter is directed toward said frame and into engagement with said latch means.

5. In a means of the class described, the combination with a frame and a closure member adapted to be closed toward said frame, of a locking member pivotally mounted at one end on the inside ofthe closure member and extendible toward said frame or to the side and clear of the frame, and latch means on said frame adapted to engagesaid locking member when the latter is directed toward said frame and into engagement with said latch means, said locking member having a plurality of spaced notches at one side for receiving said latch means and locking the closure member relative to the frame in various positions.

6. In a means of the class described, the combination with a frame and a closure member adapted to be locked relative to the frame, of a plurality of locking members mounted on said closure member, a plurality of latch members shiftably mounted on said frame adapted to engage said locking members, a single solenoid mounted on said frame, and link means connecting each of said latch members to said solenoid.

7. In a means of the class described, the

combination with a frame and a closure meml i 3rd day of August, 1928.

BENJAMIN L. Dossier. THOMAS s.v iNGERsoLL. 

